FIG. 1 is a schematic illustration of a conventional drying system 10 commonly utilized to dry the paint on five-sided containers with an open side. In the system 10, a source 12 of heated air includes a blower 13 and a heater 15, which supply a large volume of heated air to an arrangement of feed ducts 18, 20. The feed ducts 18, 20 include respective outlet openings 14, 16, through which the heated air is forcefully delivered into a lower region of a drying chamber 30.
Before entering the drying chamber 30, a shipping container is sandblasted, a layer of a primer is applied on the interior and the exterior of all five sides of the sandblasted bare metal surface, and at least one overcoat layer is applied over the primer layer on all the primed surfaces. For example, a solvent-based basecoat and a solvent-based topcoat are typically applied on the primer coat before the container enters the chamber 30.
Referring again to FIG. 1, a painted shipping container 40 enters the chamber 30 and is transported through the chamber 30 on a wheeled carriage 32. As the container 40 moves through the chamber 30, the heated air from the openings 14, 16 moves rapidly upward through the chamber and flows over the inside surfaces 42 and the outside surfaces 44 of the container 40. The rapidly flowing heated air quickly evaporates the solvents in the paint on the surfaces 42, 44 as the air moves upward in the chamber 30 and enters suction openings 22, 24. In the suction openings 22, 24, the heated air is withdrawn from an upper region of the drying chamber 30, where the heated air is vented to the atmosphere or re-enters the air system 12.